


Steve's Happy Ending(s)

by AngelGoddess13



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie) - Fandom, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, M/M, Minor Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers, Multiverse, Not Beta Read, Not Really Character Death, Post-Endgame, Very Minor James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Bucky Barnes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-02-07 13:29:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18621592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelGoddess13/pseuds/AngelGoddess13
Summary: ENDGAME SPOILERSSteve travels through time to live the lives he wants to.





	Steve's Happy Ending(s)

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! So i have never written any fanfic before so I'm sorry if its confusing or such. And I am bad with tenses so yea expect alot of mistakes there. Please tell me what you think in the comments!

Steve knew what he had to do. Bruce told him the mission. Put back all the stones and come back to 2023. He knew what he had to do. 

He also knew what he wanted to do.

Since he got the Super Soldier Serum, he had put the job, the mantel, before his desires. The one time he tried to be selfish (to give him some link to his past life), it ended up costing him the one bit of happiness he had just discovered in this strange new world. He ended up losing his new hope. 

Tony. 

And now Tony is gone, completely. Steve hated that he never got to apologize, never got to rekindle a friendship that helped him stay afloat. And when Tony died, he thought he would never get another chance. 

But now, Steve might have a chance to at least honor Tony. Steve could rewrite a past, even if its not his. He could get a happy ending. So he was going to be selfish again. Steve thinks he earned it. 

 

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Take 1

Steve saved the most important for last. The Tesseract. All Steve was supposed to do was to do was put it back in the Shield barracks and return to 2023. And Steve was going to do that. Most of that. Tony told him how Howard worried about being a new parent with Maria being pregnant and going to give birth soon. Giving birth to Tony. Steve also knew that Howard should be worried about being a good parent, based on what Tony implied about his life with Howard. If Steve stayed, he could make sure that Tony had the good life he wanted, the good life he deserved. 

So Steve stayed. Steve went and had his last dance with Peggy, went and had a life with Peggy. They got married and had children. Steve told Peggy everything. Mostly everything. They were able to stop Hydra. They were able to save Bucky. They weren’t able to find their frozen Steve. Steve had no idea where he was found and could offer no help in finding their Steve. But they continue onward. They were able to help Captain Marvel, who helped them destroy the Tesseract. Steve was making it so that Thanos never got a chance to create the gauntlet. Steve was getting his happy ever after. Steve got to help Bucky. Steve got to help Tony as Uncle Steve. 

Uncle Steve. The Uncle that always supported Tony. The Uncle that always had the best advice, the Uncle that always seemed to know what Tony was thinking. The Uncle that talked sense into Howard when he got too involved in his work and forgot his family. The Uncle that helped Maria and Jarvis when times got tough. The Uncle that Tony looked up to. The Uncle that was devastated when Tony died at the age of 25. A freak accident. A freak plane crash. Sometimes, life just works that way. Sometimes, Mother Nature just takes control. Steve continues onward, though he knows a piece of him has been ripped out again. Even when he feels partially numb, partially cold. He grows old with Peggy, watches his children grow up and get married. Watches as Peggy slowly lose track of time. Peggy get more and more confused. Peggy die. After he has buried Peggy, Steve contemplates what to do. He lived his life. But he is still not satisfied. 

Steve decides to try again.

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Take 2

Steve arrives right after Maria and Howard are killed by the Winter Soldier. Right before Tony went on a tailspin of self destruction. Steve knew he had to help. He dyed his hair brown, let his beard grow again. He doesn’t know why he is back in his young body, but he decides not to question it. It just makes this easier. Buys an apartment, gets a job as a comic artist, tries to blend in. 

Steve finds Tony passed out outside a bar. Picks him up and takes him to his apartment. Introduces himself as Chris. Steve cooks Tony breakfast, helps him with his hangover, just tries to talk to him. Rejects his attempt to come onto him in the morning. Steve just doesn’t feel right about it. This Tony is still too hurt, too raw to allow anyone in. 

But Steve can wait, if he has to.

He gives Tony his number to keep in touch. Tony does reach out to him sometimes, when he is drunk or horny or both. Steve always comes and just offers comfort. An open ear and a shoulder to cry on. During the radio silence, Steve tries to look for Bucky. He still can’t let Bucky go through those years of torture when he could stop it. Steve contemplates reaching out to Peggy, letting her know he is alive. But he sees that she is married, to another man, and happy. There is no reason for him to come in and disrupt it. Steve slowly starts to target Hydra bases. Slowly starts to to get more and more clues on where Bucky is. Slowly starts to get closer and closer to Tony. 

After 5 years in this timeline, Steve is now one of Tony’s closest friends, next to Rhodey. Steve is able to find Bucky, to get Bucky away from Hydra. Steve is able to start to destroy Hydra from the inside. Having knowledge of the future is indeed helpful. Steve gets alot of praise for his comic “Iron Man.” The public love Iron Man and his group of friends, the Avengers. Steve is happy he is able to let his friends legacy live on in some capacity.

Within 10 years in this timeline, Steve and Tony are dancing around each other. Tony is healing, staying in more, drinking less. Bucky is healing too. Steve tells Bucky about his lie, about his life as “Chris.” Says its to stop Hydra from coming after him and to protect those around him. And with Steve’s support, Tony’s help and therapist Bucky is able to thrive. Steve knows he should probably tell Tony at some point, who he is and who Bucky is but he keeps putting it off. 

Within 15 years, Steve and Tony are dating, have been for 3 years. Steve convines Tony to stop selling Stark weapons and start with renewable energy. Steve’s comics are slowly becoming classics, staples of comic book standards. Rhodey and Bucky start dating, which Steve did not see coming at all. Steve sends the Tesseract to Wakanda, to Shuri, with a note of its destructive powers and the need for it to be destroyed. Steve is happy

After 25 years, Tony and Steve are married with two adopted kids. Stark Energy is going strong. Bucky is happy. The Tesseract is destroyed. Hydra is almost destroyed. Steve is happy. 

Tony dies at the age of 73 surrounded by his husband, friends and family. They hold a big funeral, one that is more of a celebrator than morose. They were celebrating the great life Tony had, how he changed the world with his inventions and dedication. After the funeral, Steve contemplates what to do next. He lived his life. He was happy. But he was still not satisfied. 

Steve decides to try again.

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Take 3

Steve meets Tony when Tony is at MIT. After a long courtship on Steve’s part, they start dating right before Tony graduated. Tony introduces Steve to his parents. Steve wonders if Howard would recognize him, even with long black hair and a mustache but his disguise holds up. Howard does not like him, does not like that his son is dating a man, but Steve and Tony survive. 

Steve was there for Tony when his parents died. Steve was there for Tony when Jarvis died. Steve was there for Tony when Obadiah tried to take over the company. Steve was able to stop Hydra, save Bucky and prevent Tony’s kidnapping in Afghanistan.

Steve and Tony are together for 51 years before Tony dies of a heart attack. After the funeral, Steve contemplates what to do next. He lived his life. He was happy. But he was still not satisfied. 

Steve decides to try again.

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Take 7

Steve meets Tony before this timelines Steve is defrosted. Steve gets to see from the outside the interactions Tony and with the younger Steve. Steve feels bad, that this timelines Steve will never be as happy as he gets to be. Living multiple lives with Tony. 

Tony is killed in during a mission in an explosion just 7 years after Steve got to meet him.

After the funeral, Steve contemplates what to do next. He lived his life. He was happy. But he was still not satisfied. 

Steve decides to try again.

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Take 13

Steve and Tony are married for 34 years. They have two children. Tony makes fun of Steve for having sketchbooks filled with drawing of Tony and their kids. Steve says that he only wants to draw what makes him happy. Tony dies from pneumonia after a bad fishing trip. 

After the funeral, Steve contemplates what to do next. He lived his life. He was happy. But he was still not satisfied. 

Steve decides to try again.

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Take 21 

This is Steve’s last life with Tony. It’s also his shortest life with Tony. Though Steve keeps coming back young, he can tell that his body is slowly failing. Steve goes to meet Tony right after he comes back broken from Siberia. Steve waits until Rhodey and Vision go to bed before knocking. He has to convince Tony to let him in, convince Tony that he wasn’t the Steve who left him to die in Siberia. When Tony lets him in and takes him down to the lab, Steve is hit with such a rush of nostalgia and grief that he almost collapse from the weight of his emotions. 

Before Tony is even able to ask how a second Steve is here, Steve lays himself bare. He tells Tony everything he kept secret from him, all the emotions Steve felt toward Tony. Steve knew, that this timelines Steve loves Tony as well, even if he cannot recognizes it yet. Steve is sobbing by the time he is done, pleading with Tony to be patient and that his Steve, this timelines Steve, is too stubborn and riled up right now. Steve warns Tony about the phone that will be appearing in a few weeks. Asks Tony to call his Steve, that his Steve, while not recognizing his emotions, slept with the phone fully charged and by his side every day waiting for Tony to call. Steve promises Tony that his Steve will come around and come back, if Tony can find it in his heart to forgive him. Steve can tell Tony is confused, but Tony is smart. Steve is confident Tony will understand and be the bigger, the better, man. He always is. 

Steve asks Tony for one last kiss before he leaves. Steve knows everything will be okay when Tony obliges. 

This time, Steve leaves before a funeral, before Tony’s death. Still Steve contemplates where to go. Steve lived his lives. Steve had been happy. Steve was satisfied. 

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Last Take

Steve is waiting on the bench for Sam and Bucky to realize he was there. When Sam asks Steve to tell him “about her.” All he could do was smile. As there was no way for him to adequately describe his life or his love, his Tony. No matter which life he lived, Tony was always one of a kind. And something that could not be put into words. 

Steve hands his shield off to Sam, gives Bucky one last hug and heads up the Pepper, and Tony’s house. Steve knows he does not have that much time left. He thinks he has enough time to help Pepper, to help Morgan with the aftermath. To give this Tony, the one that was never his, the honor he deserves.

**Author's Note:**

> There you go! I actually wanted to go more in-depth with each life, but since I never wrote before I had no idea how to do it lol I also realized it was kinda getting depressing and I just went with it. Was trying to show how slowly Steve's focus narrowed to Tony, forgetting Peggy, Bucky, Thanos and the Tesseract. He was not going back for them, he was going back for Tony.


End file.
